Iran nuclear deal: What is it?

The State Department announces the U.S. will continue to waive sanctions on Iran included in the nuclear deal but will issue new sanctions on some non-nuclear entities.

The Trump administration said it would extend waivers on Iran’s nuclear sanctions earlier this year, keeping alive the landmark 2015 deal for at least another few months.

The waivers are accompanied by other, targeted sanctions on Iran for human rights abuses, officials said. And President Trump still warns he could pull out of the nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor if fixes aren’t made – and soon.

In October 2017, Trump decertified the nuclear deal under U.S. law, saying the sanctions relief was disproportionate to Iran's nuclear concessions. He contended the arrangement was contrary to America's national security interests.

The nuclear deal with Iran has long been a point of contention, especially among Republicans who opposed it.

What has Trump said about it?

During the presidential campaign, Trump accused Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then his opponent, for making Iran a “world power” under the nuclear deal, which he called “the highest level of incompetence.”

“If you take a look at Iran from four, five years ago, they were dying,” Trump said during an event in Virginia Beach, Va., in September 2016. “They had sanctions, they were being choked to death and they were dying. They weren’t even going to be much of a threat.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned the U.S. would pay a “high cost” if it backs out of the agreement.

What happens next?

The next deadline for extending the nuclear sanctions comes in mid-May.

United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley urged other U.N. Security Council countries to focus on cracking down on Iran’s missile and other non-nuclear transgressions last month. She suggested that a concerted global effort to punish Iran for violating Security Council resolutions on ballistic missiles could persuade Trump it was worthwhile to remain in the nuclear deal.

With dim prospects for re-opening the deal, Trump's administration has instead been looking to add requirements to the U.S. law governing implementation of the deal so that sanctions, waived as part of the deal, could be put back in place if Iran continues with non-nuclear activity that the U.S. deems unacceptable.

The White House has also sought a face-saving fix from Congress on the requirement for Trump to address Iran’s compliance every three months.

Fox News' Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kaitlyn Schallhorn is a Reporter for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter @K_Schallhorn.